man and beast in Moratinos

Camino Busybody

Compadres:
Things are really starting to rock and roll in Moratinos, a tiny pueblo on the Meseta that till recently offered little but smiles and a fuente to passing pilgrims.

UK natives James and Mariann are working hard on a small refugio right on the Camino into town...if you come by in the morning you might stop for a cuppa tea and a chat. (volunteers can stay around and help build things out of mud!)

Myself and Patrick (formerly USA and UK) live on the other end of the two-street town, and our barn is now open to pilgrims whose four-legged companions need a rest.

We all are pilgrim-friendly and work on donativo bases... So stop in the town with the Hobbit Holes, between Terradillos de Templarios and San Nicolas de Real Camino.

Hi there Rebekah,
Would love to stop over with you in September. We were planning on walking from Carrión to Ledigos as I'm determined to walk a shongololo shuffle camino this time! (Shongololo is the Zulu name for a slow moving millipede).
How far are you guys from Ledigos and does your fellowship Hole have a name?
Abrazos!

Member

"UK natives James and Mariann are working hard on a small refugio right on the Camino into town...if you come by in the morning you might stop for a cuppa tea and a chat. (volunteers can stay around and help build things out of mud!) "

Is this Marianne from Co. Meath, Ireland? Delighted to have some news of her if it is.

Marianne, if you see this maybe you would get in touch. Will be leaving Somport on 25th April. Hope to get to you and to Compostella, all going well.

Thanks Rebekah for your help and glad to see you and Patrick have a stable.
Un saludo,
Eleanor

Camino Busybody

I love the Shongololo Shuffle idea! You may be our first millipede visitor!

Still, I hope you're not walking all the way to Ledigos from Carrion in one day if you're going that slowly. The first 17K of that etapa is one of the longest, toughest, most Zen stretches of Camino for some people. (it's also one of my very most favorite!) We are about 7K from Ledigos.

Our place has no name yet, but the postman calls it simply "Las Ingleses" and delivers to us all the mail addressed to anyone in the district with an Anglo-sounding name. We hope some better, more poetic name emerges sometime soon, besides the eternal mantra "poco a poco."

There is a South African connection on the camino in Vilachá, just 2km before Portomarin, where Gordon and Judy Bell from Cape Town bought a run down casa and are slowly renovating (restoring, resuscitating?) it. The locals call it Casa Banderas because of the flags he has draped (over the cracks and holes in the walls!)
Names for your Casa?
Google says: Hobbit's Hole = Agujero de Hobbit
The Mud Hut = La choza del fango

Active Member

Here is part of my diary from last July;I intended to stop for the night at Terradillos de los Templarios but it seemed a bit too early and the refuge was full of youthful Americans. I continued, in the debilitating heat. I felt disappointed in myself, for my weakness over the Sarah relationship, the way I was dealing with it and my inability to forgive her. I decided to push myself as a punishment and make myself walk further. Therefore it was no surprise that the next adobe village I got to I was almost passing out from heat exhaustion. It was an incredibly flyblown village, houses constructed of dung! A man offered me a drink and it became apparent he was English, Patrick with his American wife, Rebekah! They sat me in the shade and told me their bizarre story of how they were there. It all seemed so surreal, but their intervention had saved me when I clearly needed help. I thanked them and set off again and walked just for another 4km and found a welcome refuge of San Nicolas del Réal Camino. It had very nice facilities and moderately priced at €7 for the night.

So thanks for helping out of what seemed like a very surreal experience.

Anonymous

Guest

Hhmm... If it really is built out of dung (I doubt!) then there is something about beauty coming out of dung - represented by the Lotus --- no, just too too.

Sounds interesting .... I'm exploring the Mesetas at the moment, looking for the place to set up 'shop' (mobile cafe and my jewellery and things - and my large first-aid kit!) will pop in about two days or so in my camper if that's ok.

Member

Hi Rebekah again,
Now I am getting the picture. I do hope to be with you sometime. Unlike
rioja routard it won't be in July. I am leaving Somport on 25th April and have allowed myself 'till end of June. I hope it will be cooler then. Couldn't cope in the heat.

Whattever about the description of your village I cannot comment but I can say that if Marianne comes from a family of 'master renovators' and I would expect that this will have rubbed off on her. Her parent's current home used to be a cow shed and you should see it now. Beautiful. Marianne, hope you don't mind me giving out this bit of information. I look forward to seeing the renovation of Moratinos by these dedicated young peoplem and meeting everybody concerned. Just pray that I will make it and more.

Camino Busybody

Just an update for you all: We are still here, tucked in for the winter... we spend our days in Moratinos (the house is now named "Peaceable Kingdom") and our nights in a much warmer rented piso in Sahagun, just across the street from the big El Trinidad pilgrim hostel.

Things are moving along much more slowly and expensively than we anticipated, but there is still a warm welcome here for pilgrims, whether you find us in Moratinos or Sahagun. If you know you´re coming by, send an email to rebrites (at) yahoo (dot) com, and we´ll make sure someone´s around to greet you!

Member

Thanks Rebekah for your news about the progress on the "Peaceable Kingdom," and for the information and images posted on your blog.
You mentioned the Paris restaurant Chez Toinette in the 9th, but I find reference on Cityvox only to a Chez Toinette in the 18th at 20, Rue Germain Pilon.
Here is the link:http://www.eng.cityvox.fr/restaurants_p ... ofil-Place

Is this the place you so much enjoyed?
Hoping to see you on our next Camino.

Member

I am publishing little boklet about accomodations on the Camino. When I passed your refuge in April/May 2007 everything was silent in and around the house. I asked al local man and he said you have stopped to build your refuge.
So what is goin on there in Moratinos?
Please send me more informations about your refuge. Telefone number, number of beds, other for the pilgrims interesting informations.
Thank you.

Camino Busybody

The "refuge" you refer to, the mud house with the blue door just coming into town, belongs to James and Marianne, a British couple. Their dream of building an albergue is taking a very long time, but they hope to be able to take in pilgrims starting in April 2008.

My house, over on the other side of town, is my home. It´s available for pilgrims to stop and rest, and donkeys and horses can stay in our barn. But the place is not a public accommodation. (this way we can close the door and hole up when we want to.)

For now, if you are publishing things, please just tell incoming pilgrims that two families in Moratinos offer pilgrims emergency help or a friendly coffee and resting place in town, but we cannot promise overnight accommodation or meals, as we don´t know how far along we will be in our projects when the pilgrims arrive. This will, God willing, change this year.